Visa Rules Are Being Tightened

I'm not sure that you can say a rule is being "tightened", but this is the phrase being tossed all over Washington D.C. right now. What really is happening, in my opinion, is the rules are actually going to be fully enforced. This leads me , and many other Americans, to a question of impact. Why are we not fully enforcing Visa rules on a continued basis?


Homeland Security officials said Monday that they will immediately begin demanding more information from visitors from countries with visa-free entry, bowing to growing fears that jihadists from Iraq or Syria could use a loophole to bring their battle to the U.S. mainland. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson did not suspend the Visa Waiver Program despite pressure from some key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but he said the government will order travelers from visa-waiver countries to report more information such as parents’ names, city of birth and aliases. This is a concern for me!

We should always be demanding more information from travelers into our country. Period. In my book, Homeland Security; A Comprehensive Guide for All , I discuss why some of the reigns may be tightened or loosened due to financial restrictions. We don't plan on money running out to sustain ongoing issues, which is a problem. But now, we have to spend more money that we don't have to sustain what we should have been doing all along. Does anyone else notice the irony here?

So, where is the fine line? There isn't one. Nothing with Homeland Security matters is cut and dry nor black or white. We need to tighten the rules around the clock. We need to put more money into sustaining our current efforts and look at what it may cost to utilize new media tools in the future. We need to prepare better in order to stay safer.

Until next time,

Twyla N. Garrett of IME

The Justice Department sued Standard & Poor's Ratings Services late Monday!

Here is an interesting article,http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324445904578284064003795142.html

Basically, The Justice Department sued Standard & Poor's Ratings Services late Monday, alleging the firm ignored its own standards to rate mortgage bonds that imploded in the financial crisis and cost investors billions.

There are a lot of politically motivated reasons for doing this. But, there are some sound ones, too. I am not sure if I agree or disagree. We did default. I couldn't walk into a bank and state I didn't pay my credit card because my mortgage was to high and it was someone else's fault. The bank would laugh at me and state that it is too bad and still my problem.

As a business owner, who does business with the federal government, this article does make me nervous. I am really interested to hear what other business owners think about it. Share your opinions with me or follow me on Twitter.

Twyla